Sam Seeking

The  need to  remove  those  oleander  branches  became  clear  last week.   I saw  offshoots  coming above  ground now,  since i have been watering for past month  (and planted my raised bed with vegetables).  So, even when dried in sun for  about a month,  oleander  branches  do not  dry  out enough  to be buried.  For now,  i have  cut out  the offshoots, and  plant to   dismantle  the  whole  hugelkultur  bed  after  rains, in march.  Just wanted to update this thread,  in case someone searches for this in future.

Jen.   You are  right - i put in lot of work  to build that  hugel  at bottom.   It  will be equally  hard to  pull it apart  and  take out the branches  at bottom that are still alive.  The only mistake i did was  to  bury  the  oleander  branches  that i  had  cut down  (and it was drying in  CA  hot sun for 2 weeks),  thinking that  they would die underneath.  This  CA  oleander  is  as bad as a weed,  keeps growing and  taking  nutrients from my other trees nearby.  The branches  (similarly)  are  sucking  nutrients from my  raised bed  compost  and  trying to  grow roots  at  1  feet  below  soil.  I have seen them take root in  other parts of my garden, and they will not  die  if  i keep taking out the  saplings above soil.  Typically,  my  gardening is done  in fall, and nothing happens  there during winter.   So, i may  dig  it all up  to be safe, when the season is over.   Thanks for your  thoughts.  

Lesson  for  others  who  happen  on this thread in future ...... Never  bury  anything  that is not  completely  dry (atleast  an year  old, cut branches that have dried out in summer sun).

Pinging  again,  in the hope for  an answer to previous  question .... Thanks.

I  am  resurrecting  this  thread after a year,  because  of  what i noticed in the  hugelkultur   layer  of my  raised bed.    This year,  i wanted to bury some more compost before planting  in  May.  Upon digging, i started seeing some green offshoots, and they were  coming  out of  the  Oleander  branches that i buried  last year.   The hugelkultur  was at least 1 feet below the other things sitting on top of it.   The offshoots were small  (about 2 to 3 inches max)  coming out of the  oleander branches,  which tells me that the branches are not completely  dead.  I am watering this area good amount  since  my tomato plants are in this raised bed, needing  good watering in summer.  During winter there is plenty of rain in  SF bay area to keep my clay soil wet  year around  (at a depth of  1.5 feet).    

Now,  my  worry is that  oleander  tree will start spouting  in my raised bed over time,  and consume the nutrients  in the soil   as the offshoots grow.  This year,  i have planted  without disturbing the  branches at the bottom.  I have planted on top of it, after burying some more kitchen waste  in the raised bed.    I thought i will check with this forum,  before  completely  removing the many branches that are the bottom of this  raised bed.  It would require  substantial work in digging up all the top layers, to get to the branches and take them all out.   Please  comment  on what i should be doing  when  my  gardening season is over  at end of fall, and the rains  start in December.   I would like to be better prepared for  March, spring planting in my vegetable garden  (in the backyard of  a typical  home in  SF bay).

Thanks.

For closure of this thread that i started,  i wanted to  add in what i found out in reading online.  Fertilizer needs  are  explained  in the following  website:

Nitrogen  needs of  various plants

There is no easy  answer to the question  i posted above (which explains the lack of answers).   And i did find out that over fertilizing  can burn plants.  To quote a rule of thumb from above  web link  provided.....
" If a soil test was not conducted, the application of eight ounces (one-half pound) of N per one-thousand square foot of the vegetable garden, prior to planting is recommended. In areas where beans, peas, or other legumes are to be planted the application of N should be avoided as this can reduce the yield of these vegetables.".

So, in  this case, i have decided to add Nitrogen little at a time.  I spread about  0.75 lbs of  lawn fertilizer  on my  24 sq. foot  area.   Since the fertilizer contained about 25%  Nitrogen, that  spread  consisted of  0.25 x 0.75 = 0.19 lb of  Nitrogen.  Note that  all recommendations  take into consideration  that the fertilizer  will  work  for a depth of  6 to 8 inches of soil.   In my  case,  since I  needed Nitrogen to  go into  the  14"  trench,  and  since  Nitrogen  will be depleted by the fresh cut tree branches in hugelkultur bed,   this  over-application  of  N  will be  fine.  To  start  off,  my  garden soil was already depleted of Nitrogen.

Thanks for the suggestion.  I did what you suggested. I have 3 different lawn fertilizers that are 23 %  to 29%  range.  How  much of  this fertilizer should i sprinkle  on  a  6 x 3  area (1 ft deep), filled with  

1. apple and oleander  branches  and twigs         50%,  
2. equal parts of  compost  + backyard soil         20%,
3. Home depot  pine bark fine mulch + leaves for 20%,  
4.  last 10%  filled with steer manure compost mixed with my clay soil  (equal parts) ?

Second part of this question is - if  i overdo the nitrogen fertilizer will that burn  my plants  that will be planted in 2 weeks on top of this raised bed ?  I plan to add atleast 8 inches worth of store bought soil (which will be mixed equal parts with my yard soil, which is 50% clay),  on top of this  1 feet hugelkultur bed.

The idea of using  fertilizer came from reading articles on web about "stump removal".   According to  few articles a  high nitrogen fertilizer can be used   since I don't  have  KNO3.  

I have  Scotts Green max.  The label says it is "derived  from  Metheleneureas, Urea, Ammonium sulfate, Potassium sulfate  and iron sucrate (or is it sulfate ? i forget)".  It is a 26-0-2  NPK  formula meant for lawn grass.  

So, the directions say drill holes in the branches,  and fill high nitrogen into it,  and make it wet.  This will promote fungal growth fast which destroys the branch before roots come in.  My new cut branches are 4" to 0.5"  in  diameter.   Can i simply  sprinkle the  high nitrogen fertilizer on top of the  branches in my trench  and  keep it moist for a week in sun to create the fungal growth ?  Then i can fill it up with leaves and soil before  i build the raised bed on top ?

This  forum has been a life saver;  many thanks to all.

Thank you.  That saved my day.  I got a doubt, When i was ready to apply  "high nitrogen fertilizer"  as recommended (either  potassium nitrate or ammonium nitrate).......  If  i apply  this to all the logs and let it sit in moisture for a week,   will that affect the plants that i will be later putting on top of this  raised bed ? I plan to put the plants into hugelkultur bed (as described above)  after 2 weeks or so.  Will the KNO3  kill my plants with high nitrogen (even though i have 1 feet of  soil + compost in between the two ?

I did not know that many trees can root from branches.  Overnight reading about it,  i came to know that this seems to be a common phenomenon (rooting from branches that are fresh cut during spring / early summer).   It will be a pain to dig out 1 or 2 foot  to take out the roots  after  few years.  

I was planning to add 2  inches of  composting  material (food scrapes, leaves that have composted half way)  into this trench of  14 inches.  Will the addition of this help in breakdown of  the branches faster and impede the rooting process by  branches ?   Otherwise my only option is to let the branches  rot for few months and  carry out this project in November, when they are dry completely and dead.  I searched for a faster way to make the branches dead, but they require money investment  and i have already spent a lot on my newbie  backyard garden.  Thanks for suggestions.

Thank  you  Dillon,  for the heads up on  Apple branches.  I have already  cut the branches down and  took out all the leaves.  The branches are fresh, but cut up and  have been soaking in water for few days.  I am planning on using them  also,  since  I do not have many trees to fill up the trench i have dug for the  hugelkultur.   Do you think the apple branches will spout up from 1 foot deep pit  that has been filled 8 inches  with  tree branches and  4 inches  with  my yard  clay soil ?  I  am basically  building a  raised bed on top of this trench that is 1 feet deep.  So, there will be another 1 feet above ground level  that is filled with  my  clay soil + equal  amount of  compost mixed with a  bit of  top soil from Home depot.

The branches  and leaves that i get from the  apple,  oleander and orange trees  can  fill up the trench  but only  barely, if i used all the parts.